Fire extinguishing apparatus



Oct. 17, 1933.

H. c. LAENGEL FIRE EXTINGUISHING APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 15, 1929 NM e a Oct. 17, 1933. H. c. LAENGEL 1,931,230

FIRE v EXTINGUISHING APPARATUS Filed June 15, 1929 2 SheetS-heet 2 Wroeum s i atentecl Get. 17

UNITED STATES i. ,f 1,931,230 FIRE YEx'rrNGUrsnING APPARATUS .Henri Charles Laengel; Paris, France, assig'nor to soclete Anonyme Assuro, Paris, France Application June 15, 1929, SerialNo. 371,215, and. in-France June 28, 1928 2 claims. (01. 169 9) The present inventionirelates toa fire extin guishing apparatus whichmay be actuated automatically by the effect of the flames, or may be operated by distant control. For thispurpose, the plant consists of tightly closed tanks containing the fire-extinguishing liquid and connected to discharge pipes as well as to closed vessels containing gas under pressure. The opening of the said vessels, which permits the gas toenter the tanks in order to expel the liquid therefrom,

is effected automatically or by positive control,

A distributing device is connected with said tanks and. is used to circulate the liquid from'the difierent tanks to a common point ofdischarge. The accompanying. drawings show by way of example a plant as applied to the engines of aeroplanes or like aircraft, but it is obvious that the apparatus may'be employed in stationary plants, for instance factories and the like.

Fig.1 is a diagrammatic View of the general plant and for fire extinguishing purposes.

Figs. 2 and 3 show. the apparatus for the control p of the supply of gas under pressure, in the inoperative and. the operative position, respectively.

.Fig. 4 shows the tanks containing. the fire extinguishing liquid as well. as. the distributing device. I p

r Fig. 4a shows diagrammaticallythe distributing device. 1

Fig. .5 is a side view of the said device.

As above mentioned, the fire protecting system accordingto the invention comprises a plurality of vessels or tanks 1 which may be distinct or may be formed by partitioning a common casing 2, thus providing juxtaposed chambers. Each tanker chamber is provided with two tubular conduits, one of which, 3, i's open at the top and also leads into the space above the fire lextinguishing liquid'contained in the tank; the other conduit 4.is connected with. an immersed tube 5 and extends to the bottom of the tank. When used upon aeroplanes, in view of the variations in the position of the .tanksl, which may even be inverted due to the reversal of the aeroplane, the tube 5 is made flexible and is provided at the lower end with a strainer'fi which hasfthe shape of a hollow sphere provided with a number of small holes. The strainer 6 is connected with a I weight 7 made of lead or the like. In thisr'r'ianner 0 the strainer 6 will be always immersed to" the bottom of the liquid, irrespectively of the position of the tank. In this case the conduits 3 and 4 are closed by disks 41 and 42 respectively which when the a r s is ng e e i n:

will burst'under the pressure of the gas or liquid, n v V ;cham b er to the corresponding pipe leading to device is installed on board ofan aeroplane;

a screw cap 9.

to a flexible power transmission device.

I The disks 41- and 42 are used to prevent the liquid from escaping out of the tanks under normal pressure, even when these tanks are turned upside down, which'can easily happen if the The conduits 3 which open into the space above the liquid are each connected to a respective apparatus containing gas under pressure, and consisting of a cylinder 8 closed at one end by At the other end of thecylinder is mounted a cover 10 protecting the inflammable cap 11 against shocks, and also a bottom piece 12 which is bored axially in order toiguide the push-piece 13. At one endof the latter is a groove 14 adapted for the insertion of the'bent ends of a fastening spring strip 15 which is secured at its middle part to a block 16 into which the end of the said push-piece may be inserted; The said block 16 is mounted on the bottom piece 12, and lateral openings are provided for the movement 'ofthe ends of the spring 15 and for their engagement with the said groove of the push-piece. The branches ofsaid spring are held against the outer face of the block 16 by the insertion of the block and spring into the said inflammable cap 11. On. the other hand, the cap 11 is heldin place by friction by means of the spring 15.

To a lug at one side of the bottom piece 12 is pivoted a fOI'k'l'T havingbranches which may act 35 upon the said cap 11, thus driving down the latter and releasing the spring 15. On the other side of the pivoting axle, the fork carries an arm to which'is secured the end of a cable 18 pertaining The arm of the said fork as well as the corresponding part of the cable 18 are contained in a tube 19 securedto the cylinder 8 and having an axis which is parallelto the axis, of this latter.

The upper end of said tube 19 is traversed by i the said cable. 18 and may form a support for said flexible power transniission device.

- The push-piece 13 is provided within the cylinder 8; with a shoulder20 carrying at the. top an annular groove for the insertion of apacking member, 21. A spring. 22 surrounds the push piece and "bears at thev topagainst the said shoulder and at the bottom against thellowerendof a socket 23 resting on thebottom 120i the-cylinder 8 andserving as an abutment; for a socket .2a,1recessed at 25 and provided at the top with.

theconduit 3 of one of the respective tanks 1. A rod or shank 29 on the end of the push-piece 13 extends into the said chamber 25, said shank being held against rotation, for instance by a longitudinal groove in the said shank, cooperating with a stud mounted in the socket 25. Said shank 29 is adapted to engage the valve disk which closes the gas bottle 27.

In theinoperative position, theparts are ar ranged as shown in Fig. 2. A gas bottle 27 is disposed in the cylinder 8, and its neck is pressed against the. packing 26 by screwing down the cap 9. The push-piece 13 has beendriven down, thus compressing the spring 22. The groove 14 coincides with the apertures permitting the insertion of the ends of the fastening spring strip cap 11, or by driving it out by means of the said power transmission device comprising the flexible cable 18. In both cases, when the said cap ceases 'to hold the branches of the spring strip, these latter will separate, thus releasing their bent parts from the groove 14 of the push-piece 13,'and

as this piece is no longer held, it will be moved by its spring 22, so that the shank 29 makes con tact with the valve 38 of the bottle 27, while at the same time the packing 21 comes against the corresponding seat on the socket 24. Thegas under pressure escapes the bottle and flows through the coupling 28 and the corresponding pipe, thus acting upon the liquid'in the tank 1 after bursting the closing disk 4-1. The liquid is driven by the pressure through the strainer 6 into the tube 5, thus burstingthe closing disk 42 and issuing through the discharge conduit l.

The functioning will be the same, if the pushpiece 13 acts by percussion instead of by opening the valve '39 which closes the gas bottle. In practice, the apparatus 8 comprises no screws, bolts or soldered parts. It can be readily taken apart by the use of a wrench. All of the pipes leading from the tanks'l containing the liquid may pass through a distributing device which is disposed between the said tanks and the pipes leading to the different points at which a fire may occur, the corresponding apparatus 8 beingobviously situated at these points. The said distributing device is adapted to connect the tanks 1 to the pipes 4' which they are to nor- 7 mally protect, or, to pipes 4 leading to other points on the premises. In this manner it is possible to use the contents of several tanks 1 against a fire which breaks out a second time at .a given point.

' The illustrated device comprises three tanks which contain the liquid and three apparatus for the compressed gas for the three points which are to be protected. The three conduits 4 for the liquid are connected withthe tanks and at their opposite ends with the connecting pieces 31a, 31b and .310 respectively (Fig. 4a) attached to the lower part of the body 32 of a distributing valve. Three discharge members 33a, 33b and 330' (Fig. 4a) are situated on the upper part of the body 32 diametrically opposite the delivery members 31a, 31b and 310, and are connected by conduits 4' with the points to be protected (Fig. 1). A plug 32 which can be turned by means of a handle .34 is carried by the body 32. The handle 34 carries a stop-key 35 actuated by a spring 43', so that it can be locked by means of grooves provided on the surface of the body 32. The plug 32' comprises three parallel channels 42a, s22), and 420, the axis of the middle channel 42?) being a 7 diameter (Fig. 4a). When the plug 32' is in its middle position shownin Fig. 4a, the delivery member 31a is connected with the discharge member 33a, themember 31b with the discharge 33b and the member 310 with the discharge 33c.

' If for instance, the plug is rotated clockwise for about the middle channel 421) connects the delivery member 310 with the discharge member 33a, while the four other members 31a, 31b, 33b,

33c arenot interconnected. Thus the right tank may be utilizedfor the left point to be protected,

and vice versa.

Three levers 36. (Fig. 4) aremounted on the upper part of. the distributing device and are used for pulling the flexible cables 18 which open compressed gas containers (Figs. 2 and 3) The levers 36 are mounted on pivots/43 situated in abutments 44 connected with the body 32 ofthe distributing valve. A lock 37 may be moved in front of the'levers 36, said movement being limited by two screws 39 screwed into the body 32 and passing through horizontal slots 380i the lock 37. The member'37 is moved by the handle 34 having an abutment 45 projecting into a vertical slot 60i the member 37, which is of such dimensions that in its middle position it still allows the'side levers 36 to movefreely- An opening 40 is situated in the middle of the member 37, so that the middle lever 36 can also move.

freely. I

It will be seen from the above that when the plug 32' and the member 37 are in their middle position, each tank is connected with the corre spending point to be protected, and each lever 36 can be moved forwards so that it can pull the cable 18 and open the corresponding compressed gas container.

When the plug 32' is moved clockwise the supply member 310 is connected with the discharge being connected, as has been mentioned already. At the same time, the member 37 is moved tothe .member 33a the supply members 31a and 312) not right and locks the right hand lever 36 andthe middle lever 36. Only the left lever 36 remains free, so that by means of said lever compressed gas can be sent to the tank connected with the delivery member 310. By means of this arrangement wrong manipulations can be easily avoided. I claim: 1. In a fire protection system having a tank containing a. fireextinguishing liquid, a pressure releasing device adjacent a location to be protectedand responsive to a conflagration of said location, said device comprising a container containing a fluid under pressure and communicating with saidtank, avalve situated in an opening formed in said container, means'in contact with said valve for actuating the same, said means comprising a movable member and a spring pressi ing against said member; a fastening spring survice, conduits connecting said distributing device 1 with said tanks, distributing pipes connected with I said distributing device and leading from said distributing device to the various points to be protected, said distributing device comprising a ro-V point to be protected and communicating with a separate tank, said pressure releasing devices being responsive to conflagrations at their particular locations, means connected with said plug for rotating the same, one of said passages being adapted after a rotation of said plug to place one of said tanks in communication with a distributing pipe which is different from the distributing pipe communicating" with the last-mentioned tank at the normal position of said plug, a plurality of handles, a plurality of power transmitting devices, each one of said power transmitting devices connecting a. separate handle with a sep-' arate pressure releasing device and being actuated by the handle to effect the release of pressure from the pressure releasing device into the tank with which it is in communication, and a device for locking'said handles, the last-mentioned device being connected with and actuated by said means and being inoperative at the normal position of said plug, the last-mentioned device be:- ing adapted at other positions of said plug to lock such handles which are connected with pressure releasing devices communicating with tanks remaining out of communication with the distrib- 7 uting pipes at such other positions of said plug.

' HENRI CHARLES LAENGEL. 

